1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to thermal management of electronic devices and in particular to a heat dissipation apparatus for an electronic device. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a heat sink apparatus and method for attaching the heat sink apparatus to an electronic device, wherein the heat sink apparatus is mechanically attached to the electronic device by adhesive and thermally coupled to the electronic device by a thermally conductive material.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the performance requirements for computers and other electronic equipment increase, the integrated circuit (IC) components comprising the electronic equipment operate at higher power and are manufactured at increased device densities. As a result, greater emphasis is being placed on the utilization of heat sinks and other means for managing the thermal environment of the IC components.
A conventional package for an IC chip includes a substrate to which the chip is electrically connected and a cap which seals the chip within the package. In addition, the package typically includes a thermal paste sandwiched between the cap and the upper chip surface which conducts heat from the chip to the cap. Packages for high-power chips often utilize a heat sink attached to the package cap to enhance the efficiency of heat transfer from the package cap to the surrounding environment, thereby maintaining the temperature of the chip within the recommended operating temperature range.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, heat sinks can be attached to IC packages by a variety of means, including clamps, screws, and other hardware, as well as thermally conductive adhesives. Because of the package-dependence of clamp or screw-mounted heat sinks and the additional labor required to attach clamp and screw-mounted heat sinks to packages, electronic device manufacturers often prefer utilizing adhesive-mounted heat sinks in order to minimize production costs. However, because materials having desirable adhesive properties typically do not have a high thermal conductivity, it is difficult to provide a high performance heat sink at a low cost.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved heat sink apparatus and method for attaching a heat sink apparatus to an electronic device which enable a high thermal performance heat sink apparatus to be assembled with minimal labor utilizing low-cost materials.